Trouble
by Draco-Hermy
Summary: Post-War Hogwarts. Astoria is reliving her fifth year in peace (sort of) when Draco Malfoy invites her to Hogsmeade. But something is up between Draco and Hermione Granger-and Astoria is determined to put a stop to it. Draco belongs to her now, after all.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N For the Taylor Swift Red Challenge by Forever Siriusly Sirius. Song "I Knew You Were Trouble". This is going to be so fun! Hope you like it.**

It was Astoria's repeated fifth year at Hogwarts, and it hadn't been going much better than the first time she'd done it. She was now sixteen, and so were all her classmates, but none of them seemed to have matured from the time when they were fifteen. They all played pranks on her and the other fifth year girls, just like the year before.

Her classes were all the same, the pranks were the same, her friends were the same. Everything was exactly the same as it had been. Except, of course, they weren't at war.

She wasn't going to say that she'd fought against the Carrows, because she hadn't. She hadn't done anything to stop Voldemort from taking over the school. But what could she have done? This haunted her day and night, and it only made her feel marginally better that everyone else had this same guilt. So she'd dedicated this year to having fun.

It wasn't working. She was mad at everyone and everything, and it was even worse for her than most, because she was reminded of her nonexistent efforts every time she looked at the fresh Dark Mark on her left arm.

And then she met Draco.

Astoria was walking across the courtyard after classes were over, on her way to the common room for some time to herself when something blocked her path. When she looked up, she saw it was a tall blond boy with an extremely handsome face. He was from Slytherin. She'd seen him around, knew his name. This was Draco Malfoy, the first of many Slytherins to become a Death Eater.

He was a repeating seventh year. Astoria wondered why he was standing in front of her. Maybe he just couldn't see her, didn't realize he was blocking her path to the common room. So she tried to go around him.

It didn't work. Draco stuck his arm out, wrapped it around her waist, and dragged her back in front of him. Astoria gulped. She wasn't usually afraid of anything, but a boy that could tug her around like a rag doll? Something to be scared of.

"Going somewhere?" he asked, smirking. Astoria couldn't help thinking about how handsome he was. She didn't want to think that, but it was inevitable. He seemed to radiate handsomeness. It was terrible.

Astoria forced herself to speak. When she did, it came out something like, "Blerg dommern rom." Then she shook her head and said it again, more forcefully. "The common room. I was going to the common room."

"Good," Draco said. "I'm going there too." He obviously wasn't. He didn't move an inch. On his right, there was a large tree, so Astoria couldn't go that way. He would grab her if she went the other way, and she certainly couldn't go over him. She couldn't even go backwards, since he'd just grab her again. There was no way to escape. She'd just have to talk to him.

"Do you usually spend your time trapping fifth years against their wills?" Astoria asked, some of her usual snarkiness coming back to her.

Draco snickered. "Feisty. Too bad that won't help you resist me. Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk."

_Really?_ Astoria wanted to ask. _Because it seems like you want to kill me._

"I'm not lying," he said, and it was so sincere, Astoria had to believe him.

"Alright then," she said. "What did you want to talk about?"

A look of nervousness flashed across Draco's face. But just as quickly, his slick demeanor was back. "There's a Hogsmeade trip tomorrow. How about we go together?" It wasn't an order. It wasn't even a forceful suggestion. Draco Malfoy, the most highly regarded Slytherin since Snape was a student, was asking _her,_ Astoria Meaningless Greengrass, to Hogsmeade with him. The answer was obvious.

"Erm, yeah, sure," she said. Or at least, that's what she tried to say. She wasn't sure what exactly came out of her mouth. Her cheeks were bright red by now. Even Draco's face looked a little pink, but he put on another smirk to cover it up.

"Great," he said, and stepped closer to Astoria, which she didn't think was possible, since they were already really close. Draco had to bend down to meet her eyes, but it didn't look awkward. Probably because he was leaning against a tree. They were almost nose to nose.

"Y-yeah," she said. This Draco was really making her lose her cool. What would the others think? "Yeah, great." He was really handsome.

"Meet me in the common room at eight tomorrow," he said, and walked away. Astoria almost collapsed, but she didn't. She knew for sure every single girl in Hogwarts was staring at her in envy. No one could deny that Draco Lucius Malfoy was hot. Really, really hot. Except maybe Hermione Granger, but that was beside the point.

And now Draco wanted to go to Hogsmeade with her. On a date. Astoria had never been out with a guy, ever, and now her first date was going to be with the most coveted guy in school. Who was two years older than her.

"Bloody hell, Astoria, what was that about?" Astoria's best friend, Queenie, asked, running over to her. "Why was Draco Malfoy talking to you? Why was he so _close?_ Is it, like..." she leaned closer, "a _Death Eater_ thing?"

"God, no!" Astoria said. "Of course not. You know I would have walked away if it was."

"It didn't look like you _could_ walk away," Queenie said.

"Well, I would've found a way."

By now, the rest of the Slytherin girls in Astoria's year were coming over to ask about her meeting with Draco. There were only four more of them, but they were loud enough to count for at least twice that many. Astoria had to pretend they were her friends, but really, she hated them all. They had been some of the first to willingly become Death Eaters when the Carrows took over. Astoria had been one of the last. They hadn't even gotten to Queenie yet, so she didn't have the Mark.

"What was _that_ about?" one of the girls asked.

"Yeah, why was Draco Malfoy talking to you?"

"Is there something going on with you two?"

"Was he mad at you?"

"It was nothing!" Astoria said. They all refused to go away, so Astoria sighed and said, "Fine. He asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him tomorrow. And yes," she said before they could ask, "I said yes."

For a moment, there was dead silence. Then all of them exploded into squeals of envy and delight. "You are so lucky."

"I wish I was you."

"He is _so_ hot."

"Why did he ask _you?_"

"Wow, Astoria," Queenie said. "He really asked you?"

"Yeah," she said, kind of indignantly. "I can be asked on a date by Draco Malfoy."

The other four girls apparently lost interest in the conversation and walked away, so it was only Queenie and Astoria.

"Come on," Queenie said. "We have to get you ready for tomorrow." She grabbed Astoria's hand and dragged her all the way to the common room.

The next morning, at exactly eight o' clock, Astoria came into the common room. It was entirely deserted except for one chair, which had Draco Malfoy in it. He stood up and promptly walked out of the common room, beckoning for Astoria to follow. He barely looked at her.

Astoria shook her head in surprise. She'd spent a considerable amount of time on her makeup, hair, and clothes, and Draco hadn't even appreciated it. But then she followed him out the door, because she had a whole day to get him to notice.

As she followed him to the Great Hall, where Filch was waiting to let everyone out to Hogsmeade, Astoria noted what Draco had chosen to wear. He was just wearing a simple black long-sleeve shirt and black jeans with sneakers, and he didn't have any gel in his hair, which looked great to Astoria even though she couldn't see his face.

Just before they got to the Great Hall, Draco wrapped his arm around Astoria's waist and walked with her into the room. She was so surprised by this that she didn't move for a moment, but then Draco raised his eyebrows at her and she immediately began to walk.

He was just _so hot_, it was unbelievable. She didn't want to fall for him, because he was a total jerk from what she could see, but she couldn't help it.

They entered the Great Hall, and at once, Draco's eyes turned from Astoria to the crowd. He looked like he was searching for something, someone, and Astoria wanted to ask who he was looking for, but Draco's grip her was so tight, she could barely breathe, let alone speak.

After a moment, Draco froze, turned to Astoria, and kissed her full on the mouth. She was caught off guard, but then she got used to it. Why was he kissing her? She could barely enjoy it because she was so confused. Then he pulled away and pulled her across the Great Hall. Astoria couldn't see why they were going this way. It would have been much faster to just go straight to the doors.

But then they stopped in front of a group of four people. It was Harry Potter, holding hands with Ginny Weasely, and Ron Weasely, looking delightedly at Hermione Granger. Astoria couldn't fathom why Draco could possibly want to talk to these four. She thought he hated them.

But Draco turned to Harry. Grudgingly, he said, "I'm sorry." Harry started. Apparently, he hadn't noticed that Draco was standing there. Astoria knew he was supposed to be famous and all, but the first thing she noticed was that he was really short. Not that he had a scar on his forehead or that he had the messiest hair she'd ever seen. Just that he was really short.

"For what?" Harry asked.

"For being an idiot. Thanks for saving me," Draco mumbled, looking at Hermione, probably to avoid looking at Harry. Astoria had never seen a Slytherin apologize for anything, especially not to a Gryffindor. Especially not _Draco Malfoy_ to freaking _Harry Potter._

"Oh, erm, it was nothing?" Harry said it in more of a questioning way. Ron glared at Draco.

"Go away, ferret," he said.

"Ferret?" Astoria asked.

"It's nothing," Draco said quickly, but Ron laughed meanly.

"You didn't tell your girlfriend about your cameo as a ferret?" Ron turned to Astoria. His hair was _really_ red. It almost blinded her. "Blondie over here got a little mouthy and our Defense teacher turned him into a ferret. Should've seen him. Bloody hell! Malfoy was freaking out, squeaking and-"

"And that teacher turned out to be a spy working for Voldemort. So turning Malfoy into a furry creature definitely wasn't the worst he could've done," Ginny said. "Frankly, Malfoy, you were lucky that day."

"Lucky!" Draco said. He was still staring at Hermione.

"Draco," Astoria said. "We should really go."

"Yeah," he agreed absently. He didn't move. He was _still_ staring at that Granger girl.

"Come _on._ Or we'll be late," Astoria said, and started walking toward the door. Draco seemed to remember he had his arm around her, and that he was on a date.

"Right, of course," he said, and started to walk with her. He turned back to Harry when they were about ten feet away. "See you later, Potty." And then he kissed Astoria again. What was going on? Astoria wasn't an idiot. She knew something was up, and it probably had to do with that Hermione Granger. She pulled away from Draco, gave a tentative smile, and they kept walking.

When they were almost at the door, Astoria looked back. Ron was talking to Hermione about something, but she wasn't really listening. She was looking at Astoria and Draco. Astoria glared at her to get her to back off, and it worked. Hermione turned back to Ron.

Now Astoria was _sure_ something was going on between Draco and Hermione. And she was determined to get him to forget it. He was on a date with _Astoria._ Not Hermione. And he was going to act like it.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N I have no idea where I'm going with this story, so if it seems a little off-course and odd, that's because it is. :)**

On the way to Hogsmeade, Astoria decided that she was going to pretend like she hadn't noticed Draco practically drooling over Hermione, like she was oblivious to the way he was using Astoria to make Hermione jealous (which was clearly working), like she was an idiot. She was going to pretend like nothing was wrong, and maybe that would _make_ nothing wrong.

As they walked, Astoria kept glancing at Draco. He wasn't smiling, or smirking, or having any sort of fun. He was just staring straight ahead like nothing could shift his focus. But if he wanted to make Hermione jealous, if he wanted to use Astoria, he'd have to try harder than he had been. She wouldn't go down without a fight. He'd chosen _her,_ after all. He could have tried his luck with asking Hermione herself, but he hadn't. So now he was going to face the consequences.

"Draco?" Astoria asked, putting on the stupidest face she could muster.

He shook his head slightly and looked down at her, a bit surprised, as if he'd forgotten he was on a date with her.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Since we're here, where do you want to go?" she asked, since they'd just arrived in the main part of Hogsmeade. It didn't matter how many times she went, Hogsmeade would always amaze Astoria. There were so many places to go, so many people to talk to. She was pretty sure she'd never be bored in Hogsmeade.

"Er..." Draco looked around, and so did Astoria. She noticed Hermione and her friends (or the Golden Group, as Astoria was now calling them) entering a split second after Draco did. They were heading for The Three Broomsticks. "Up for a butterbeer? The Three Broomsticks looks open." Astoria wanted to roll her eyes and tell him that obviously it was open, because these trips were probably some of the busiest business days the place had, but she didn't want to upset him more than he already was.

"Sure," she said. "I could go for some butterbeer." So they made their way to The Three Broomsticks, entering less than ten feet behind the Golden Group. As they chose a table, Draco drew Astoria close to him again and chose a table not two feet from where the Golden Group was sitting. How he expected Astoria not to notice what was going on, she'd never know. Maybe he thought she was like that Pansy Parkinson girl, so in love with Draco that nothing could faze her.

The waitress came over to them and asked what they wanted. Draco ordered two butterbeers for the pair of them. The waitress's nametag read "Marie". Marie was tall, blonde, skinny, and wore very heavy makeup. Her shirt was suspiciously low-cut, so much so that it made Astoria wonder if she was really allowed to wear it to work. Marie was eyeing up Draco, Astoria could tell at once, and she didn't like it. She had already lost him to Hermione Granger; she didn't want to lose him to this random waitress, too.

Luckily or unluckily for Astoria, however, Draco was paying no mind to Marie. She was blocking his view of Hermione, so he kept leaning around Marie to look at her.

"You sure you're allowed to drink butterbeer?" Marie asked Astoria, pursing her lips and looking down her nose at the younger girl.

"Of course I am," Astoria said, focusing her hard glare on the waitress. "It's not like it actually has any alcohol in it."

Marie was about to respond when Draco interrupted. "If you could just get the drinks?" He said it so disdainfully, with such an I'm-better-than-you look, that Marie had to walk away.

It gave Astoria a tiny bit of selfish pride that Draco thought she was at least a little bit worth his time, at least enough to stand up for. Maybe it shouldn't have made her feel so good, but she couldn't help it. Draco was everything she'd always wanted in a boyfriend, and now she was on a date with him. Granted, he was spending the entire time stalking another girl and trying to make her jealous, but she was still on a _date_ with him.

"Hermione?" Astoria heard Ron asking.

"What?" Hermione responded, seemingly breaking out of a trance. Astoria hadn't noticed her staring at Draco, but she must have been at least thinking about him, because she hadn't been participating in the conversation the Golden Group had been having.

"You okay?"

"What? Yeah, of course I'm okay," Hermione said.

Ginny turned to Harry. "Maybe we should all get going." She glanced pointedly at Draco and Astoria, making it clear that she'd known they were there the entire time. But how couldn't she? They were right next to each other, basically.

Harry apparently hadn't noticed anything, though. "Why? We haven't even gotten our food yet."

"I have," Ron said, gesturing at his half-eaten apple pie.

"See? Ron has. We can get some more somewhere else," Ginny said.

"But-" Harry said.

"No, no, come on," Ginny said. "We really have to go. Hermione!"

"What?" Hermione had fallen into a trance again, this time not even bothering to hide that it was about Draco. She was staring right into his eyes. Astoria couldn't allow that. Not something so blatant.

Ginny grabbed Hermione's arm and tugged her into a standing position. She led Hermione toward the door, Ron trailing behind, staring sadly after his apple pie. Hermione was still looking at Draco.

Astoria got up, walked to the other side of the table, and kissed Draco again. This time it was him that was surprised, but he didn't break away. Astoria looked up to make sure that Hermione was gone, and pulled away.

"We should go," Draco said, a little blush crawling onto his cheeks. Astoria rolled her eyes, both because of his blush and his wanting to leave.

"We haven't even gotten our drinks yet," she said. She wasn't going to let him stalk Hermione the entire time they were in Hogsmeade. They were in Hogsmeade _together_, and they were going to act like it was a date for a while. Plus, it seemed to freak Ginny Weasley out a little that Draco was stalking her group. It was only kind to stay away, if only for a little while.

"You're right," Draco said, his cheeks turning pink. For a minute, the two of them sat there in silence, Astoria staring intently at Draco, who was tapping his fingers on the table and looking anywhere but at her. She had to admit, that was a bit rude. What had his plan been? To bring her to Hogsmeade and then drag her around all day? Did he figure she'd just go along with it?

It made Astoria so angry that he thought so little of their date, she wanted to confront him about Hermione. She really did. Why in the world could Draco possibly want to go out with a sincerely average-looking Mudblood like Hermione Granger when he could be with a beautifully perfect pure-blood like Astoria?

She was proud of her heritage, of course. She hadn't wanted the Carrows or Voldemort to take over the Wizarding World, because that was just wrong, but she _did_ agree with the cause on some points. More specifically, the point about pure-bloods being more fit to be wizards and witches than Mudbloods. No point in denying the sensible facts.

Astoria had thought the Malfoys felt the same way, and from the way Draco treated Mudbloods throughout the school, she'd been pretty certain she was right. But apparently, Draco didn't care that Hermione wasn't related to anyone of wizarding descent. He didn't care that he would absolutely ruin the pure-blood image if anyone found out. He probably didn't even realize how drastically his actions would change the world's view of the Malfoy family, or he didn't care.

But she couldn't talk to him about it. Not yet, anyway. It was one thing to pretend not to notice. It was a whole different monster to let Draco know she was in on it. She'd have to tell him eventually, if only because it would drive her insane to follow the Golden Group all day, but right now wasn't a good time. Draco might just leave Astoria and go pick up some other girl, and then where would she be?

No, no, she had to think of a plan to keep him from leaving her, but to let him know that it was disgraceful and terrible for him to even _think_ about being associated with Hermione Granger. Astoria also had to convince Draco that she was the better candidate to be his girlfriend. Everyone expected him to marry Pansy, Daphne, or Astoria, because they were members of the biggest pure-blood families besides the Malfoys. And since Draco couldn't stand Pansy and Daphne was going out with Theodore Knott, Astoria was basically the only person it would be acceptable for Draco to marry.

He couldn't just ruin that by marrying a _Mudblood,_ it didn't even make sense! Ugh, it made Astoria so incredibly furious that he was willing to ruin the lives of all pure-bloods, let alone his family, that she couldn't keep her anger in.

When Marie the waitress came back with their drinks, Astoria took her cup and, thankful that it was plastic, threw it on the ground as soon as Marie's back was turned. She slumped in her seat.

"You dropped the cup," Astoria called after her. "If you could replace it, please?" It looked like Marie was really fighting not to explode in Astoria's face, but she didn't care. She was too mad at Draco, who she was glaring at with such a passion he actually looked a little scared.

"Everything okay, Astoria?" he asked, and his scared expression returned to normal, with his usual smirk playing across his lips. Astoria felt her anger slowly melting away, which was stupid. She had a right to be angry, but it was so hard to be mad at Draco. It was terrible that his looks influenced her decision to be mad at him, but it was true. He was too handsome to be mad at.

"Yes," she said, a bit stiffly. Her anger wasn't _completely_ gone. "Fine." Marie brought her a replacement drink, tried to flirt with an unresponsive Draco, and left the two of them.

They sat in silence again, but this time Astoria was pretty sure it was Draco having the deep thoughts. Finally, it seemed that Draco couldn't stand to not stalk Hermione for more than ten minutes.

"We should really get out of here," he said. "That waitress is terribly annoying." _Yeah,_ Astoria thought, _she's not the only one._

But she didn't say that. What she did say was, "Right. Well, she dropped off the check so we can leave whenever."

Draco glanced at the check, dropped the two galleons on the table, and stood up to leave. "I don't think she needs a tip," he said.

Astoria smiled. "Yeah. That might give her the wrong idea." Draco smiled back. It was a small smile, but it was real, not a smirk. And that completely erased all the anger Astoria had for Draco. Maybe the date could actually go somewhere, if she could manage to turn Draco's mind from Hermione. Maybe if Astoria succeeded, she could be hanging out with Draco much more often.

_Don't get ahead of yourself,_ she scolded as they walked out of The Three Broomsticks. The whole reason they were leaving was because of Hermione, after all. And she'd been wondering if Draco had thought through _his_ plan! Hah. What about Astoria's own plan? She resolved that she'd have to think it through more, but she knew that once she had a plan, it would be the best ever created.

Because Astoria Greengrass never settled for anything less than the best.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Sorry that took so long. I've been busy. I was wondering, though... Should I continue after this chapter? I'll mention it at the end again so no one forgets to review and tell me.**

It was an hour later, after Astoria had pretty much put up with everything she could. She'd followed the Golden Group around in store after store, and gradually, the entirety of that group noticed. It seemed to Astoria that Ron was the angriest about the whole thing. She doubted he knew _why_ they were following them, but he might have had a suspicion. She felt terrible about imposing herself on them, but what could she do?

Finally, she threw her plan out the window. She had been devising a whole under-cover, sneaky operation that involved Hermione, a toad, and quite a few galleons. But she knew it wouldn't work. She had to save everyone from Draco, including himself.

So Astoria pulled him aside. "Look," she began. "I know what you're doing."

"What?" he asked absently, staring over her shoulder at Hermione.

"I don't know what's going on between you and that Mudblood, but it needs to stop. Now," she said. That got his attention. He leaned in close to her, his eyes narrow and his expression icy.

"Listen," he said, and that one word made Astoria want to run for her life. "You have no right to call Hermione a Mudblood. None. Take it back." He drew his wand. Astoria stumbled back and fell onto a pile of discarded clothes from the store.

Suddenly, Draco deflated. He put his wand back in his pocket and helped Astoria up. "I'm sorry," he said. An apology? Two in one day? What had gotten into him? He whispered so that no one could hear: "It's just that Hermione's mad at me. She has been for a month, and I don't know what I did. We've been seeing each other since the end of the war, and I just... I wanted to make her jealous by bringing you here."

"Really?" Astoria asked, lacing her voice with sarcasm. "I hadn't noticed."

Draco waved her comment away. "Look, I just really like her. I can't deal with her being angry at me."

"But what did you do?" Astoria asked. She was incredibly upset that he was choosing Hermione over her, but at the same time, she understood. But that didn't mean she was giving up. Oh, no. Definitely not.

"I'm not sure. We were talking, and then Pansy came up behind me and I had to act like Hermione was scum, which was a regular occurrence, so I don't know why it bothered her. But I guess, seeing it right in her face was just too much. She hasn't talked to me since," Draco said. He looked so forlorn, Astoria just had to do something.

"It's been two months?" she asked. Draco nodded. "Well, then, forget her. If she doesn't realize how much she's losing by not being with you, then lose her, first. Ignore her. Don't just play along to her games. I swear, if _I_ was your girlfriend, I'd never do that to you." She couldn't help inserting that into her pep talk. He had to get the idea into his head somehow, didn't he? She could see her words making their way into Draco's mind. It was reasonable. If Hermione wasn't going to treat him right, then why _should_ he follow her like a puppy dog?

"Maybe," he said, and began to sulk. He probably didn't like that idea much. But then his face lit up. "Genius," he whispered. He grabbed Astoria by the shoulders. "I'm a genius. You have to tell Weasley, the boy, what's going on, or what _was_ going on, between Hermione and me. Then he'll confront her and... Oh, she'll be so uncomfortable. It'll be perfect!"

"You _are_ a genius," Astoria said, smiling. "But why me?"

"He won't believe _me,_ of course," Draco said. "We've always hated each other. Can you go tell him now?"

"I think I'll have to wait until I can get him alone," she said. She glanced over at the others. They were leaving the shop, Ron's arm slung across Hermione's shoulder. She looked like she was enjoying herself, but at the last moment, she looked back at Astoria and Draco. Draco didn't need to know that Hermione was still pining for him. It would only put knots into the plan.

The date was a lot more like a date after that. Draco still trailed after Hermione, but this time he paid a lot more attention to Astoria. He told her jokes, which was odd because she'd never heard of a Malfoy with a sense of humor before. He showed her all the best places to eat, the best joke shops to buy at. Surprisingly, he ranked the newly installed Weasley's Wizard Wheezes over Crack-a-Joke, the old shop that no one ever went to. But she would have thought Malfoy would rank _anything_ over something the Weasleys did.

Maybe he _had_ changed. If he had, that was perfectly all right with Astoria. She didn't want to marry some stuck-up prick anyway. Because it was true. She _was_ going to marry Draco Malfoy. He just didn't know it yet.

After a while, Astoria noticed Ron go off to talk to his brother George in the joke shop. She went after him, making sure he didn't notice her. She could be quite stealthy when she wanted to, just like all Greengrasses. It was a family gift, some might say.

Astoria followed Ron into the joke shop, waited for a while when he talked to his brother, and then stood in front of him as he walked out. When Ron noticed who was in his way, he jumped.

"Who are you?" he asked, a bit tactless.

Astoria stood up straighter. "Astoria Greengrass."

"What do I have to do with you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Nothing, obviously. We've never met. I just have some information I think you ought to know." That got his attention. He leaned in closer.

"What is it?" Astoria smirked. No one could resist a good secret.

She had to stand on her toes to whisper in his ear. "Your girlfriend, Hermione, she was cheating on you. With Draco Malfoy. Since the start of school."

"What?" Ron asked, bewildered. But Astoria could see the news getting to him. She saw the anger cloud his judgment, settle in his soul. "How... I don't believe it. You're lying to me. I saw you with Malfoy. This is some nasty trick he's playing on me, isn't it? Isn't it?" He got in Astoria's face, but she didn't back down. Her expression was stony. They were almost nose to nose.

"I am many things, Ronald Weasley," she said quietly. "I am a pureblood. I am a witch. I am a Slytherin. I am a genius. But I swear to you, I am _not_ a liar."

Needless to say, Ron backed off. "Fine, fine," he said, anger filling him up again. "I need to have a word with Hermione, if you would excuse me." He pushed past her more roughly than she normally would have allowed, but she was so elated, she didn't mind.

Hermione would _hate_ Draco for telling Ron, meaning she wouldn't want anything to do with him. She'd ignore him for the rest of his life. And Draco already hated Hermione for shutting him out. All Astoria had to do was show him how she would make a much better girlfriend than the Mudblood.

Astoria walked out of the joke shop and over to Draco, who was watching in fascination as Ron confronted Hermione. He was obviously trying to be quiet, but it came out as more of a yell instead of an all-out scream.

"How did I not know about this?" Ron demanded.

"Know about what?" Hermione asked, looking a little frightened. This was new. Astoria had been convinced Hermione was too clever to be frightened by anything, especially Ron Weasley.

"Your little relationship with bloody _Malfoy,_ that's what! I can't believe you were with him behind my back. I just... I trusted you!" Astoria had to admit, she felt a little bad for Hermione, who was shrinking back into the nearest wall. Ron hadn't drawn his wand yet, but it was only a matter of time.

"Ron!" Harry tried to intervene, but Ron pushed him away.

"This isn't your fight, mate," he said.

"I'm so sorry, Ron," Hermione said, beginning to cry.

"Sorry? Sorry doesn't even begin to cover it. What happened? Am I too stupid for you? I know what you think. I know I can't even begin to compare to your genius. I get it. But Malfoy? _Malfoy?_ He's the last person I'd expect to see you hook up with. The last! I can't believe-"

"Ron!" Hermione said it more forcefully this time. She stood up straight and wiped her tears away angrily. "Listen to me. I broke up with him. I did!" Ron looked about to interrupt, but Hermione shot him down. "Don't you dare interrupt, Ronald Weasley. You want to know what happened? This is what happened: I was being an idiot. Okay? I was mad at you for ignoring me, and he was right there, and it just happened. It didn't help that he's Head Boy!"

Oh, right. Astoria had almost forgotten Hermione had been chosen to be Head Girl. Ron had flaunted it in everyone's faces. Now he and his friends could get away with even more than they already had.

Hermione continued, "It was out of spite! All right? I made a mistake. I'd think you, of all people, would be able to understand that." Ron looked down shamefully. Astoria didn't know or care what he'd done, but she was impressed at Hermione's ability to turn a phrase. Astoria wasn't sure even _she_ could have gotten herself out of that one. She probably would have screamed some curses and ran away, but Hermione was holding her ground.

"If you don't appreciate the fact that I-"

"I get it, Hermione," Ron said. He put his hand on her shoulder, and when she didn't shake it off, he hugged her. "I know you wouldn't do that."

"But I did. And I know that's unforgivable. I'm so sorry, Ron. But you've got to understand, I didn't know what else to do! There didn't seem to be any other way to turn," Hermione said. Ron looked at her with commitment and love, and it truly surprised Astoria. She'd always thought Ron was just dating Hermione because it seemed like the right thing to do. But maybe there was something behind it after all.

"It's... it's okay," Ron said. They kissed. Astoria was amazed at how quickly they made up. Either Hermione was an absolute genius, or she was sincere. Something made Astoria doubt Hermione was lying to Ron.

Draco looked upset, but not heartbroken. "Hey," Astoria said, patting his shoulder. "It'll be fine. She doesn't deserve you anyway."

He looked at her in confusion. "Why are you helping me?"

Astoria was taken aback. Why was she helping him? "Well, firstly, I honestly don't think she deserves to date you. Also, I just... Well. This is kind of awkward."

"Let me guess. You wanted Hermione and me to permanently break up so that the two of us could go out," Draco said. Astoria's face burned. Was she that predictable? But Draco wasn't angry. He wasn't even laughing. He was expressionless, and it was kind of scary.

"Yes," she said. "I suppose you're furious with me now, aren't you? It's all right, I'll leave." Her lip quivering, Astoria began to walk away. But after a few feet, she found she couldn't. Something was holding her back. She looked back and saw that Draco had grabbed her wrist. He had his usual smirk on.

"You know," he said, his voice suddenly smooth again, "that's a real Slytherin way to think. What do you say we hang out at the Black Lake tomorrow at ten?"

"In the morning?" Astoria asked, because nothing else was really processing. Was Draco asking her out on a redo-date?

"Yes, in the morning," Draco said, his smirk growing. "Have something to do?" The next day was a Saturday, so no, Astoria had nothing to do.

"No," she said, smirking a bit herself. "I'd like to see where that leads. Yes. I accept your proposal. Tomorrow at the Black Lake."

They stood there for a moment, just looking at each other. "Well," Draco said. "I suppose we should walk back now, shouldn't we?" So they did.

**A/N Okay, guys, if you're going to review, NOW WOULD BE THE TIME! I want to know if I should continue this story, or if I should just end it here. I really want to know what you think! There were, like, 180 views of this story and only two reviews, so... yeah. Review and tell me your thoughts!**


	4. Author's Note

THIS IS NOT A CHAPTER!

I'm just posting this to let anyone that would like to know about the sequel. It's called "Out of the Frying Pan", and is posted as one of my stories. If you're interested, I'd really love if you went and read it. It's not done yet, and it's incredibly different from "Trouble", so you might not like it.

It's about Hermione, and the afteraffects of what happened in "Trouble", and some other things.


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